Toxic Myths of Scarcity: Counteracting Cultural Conditioning

The following video and questions for reflection along with additional resources are from Session Two of the eCourse, The Transformative Power of Sufficiency & Gratefulness. In this video Lynne Twist and Br. David Steindl-Rast, interviewed by Sarah Vetter, discuss the impact of our consumer culture and three "toxic myths."

Welcome. We invite you to take a few slow, deep breaths before you begin. Please allow yourself uninterrupted time to fully experience this video (10:32), and respond to the questions for reflection. May you find this exploration both illuminating and beneficial.

We have as a consumer culture, as a monetized culture in this world today…a set of what I call unconscious, unexamined assumptions that are, what I call, a mythology. ~ Lynne Twist

Topics for Contemplation, Discussion, or Journaling

Feel free to reflect on as many of the following questions as you like. You might come to a question for which you do not have an immediate answer. We encourage you to simply hold the question without knowing, and trust that an answer or insight may arise at an unexpected time.

What are the cultural messages that most make you forget what is true, valuable, and/or whole in your life?

Consider what Br. David said about true gratefulness vs. learned politeness: “Joy is already gratefulness.” When have you experienced “polite” gratitude, and how is that distinct from the joy of true gratefulness?

The first Toxic Myth: “…there’s not enough to go around, and someone somewhere is always going to be left out and you have to be terrified that it’s not you and yours. And that creates a sort of us-and-them world.” How do you see this alive in your life and/or the world today?

The second Toxic Myth: “More is better…We’re just swimming in a sea of stuff that doesn’t make us happy, that doesn’t give us any satisfaction…because we’re always trying to get the next thing.” What is the impact of this mindset on your life and/or the world?

The third Toxic Myth: “That’s just the way that it is, there’s nothing we can do about it.” How do you break out of paralysis and into action when you feel powerless because of the belief that there is no way to change something?

Practicing

To be aware that what is given to you, freely given to you at this present moment, is the greatest gift that you can ever receive. Life gives you the opportunity of another moment. We cannot bring another moment about. It’s a total gift. And to realize this moment, with all its opportunities, is given, freely given, it makes you so overjoyed.
~ Br. David Steindl-Rast

Throughout the week, begin to look for the opportunities in each moment. How can you practice being open to opportunity? Notice the things that are “given” to you in each moment. What opens up once you start noticing these?

Lynne Twist says, “We all have to really work to remember that we’re whole and complete, that we’re fine just the way we are.” Where are your sanctuaries, what are your practices, or who are the people that help you remember this?

This is a quote from a talk given by the Christian Mystic Daskalos on 1993 08 31. I feel it magnifies the essence of what Br David is referring to wrt …why it is we Humans have, always have had, always will have sufficient material ( and otherwise ) to enjoy our earthly existence.
Daskalos:
“I will tell you something Joshua Emanuel the Christ gave to his healer-disciples,
Daskalos quoting Joshua Emanuel the Christ:
“I have given you everything you need to feed your material bod...

This is a quote from a talk given by the Christian Mystic Daskalos on 1993 08 31. I feel it magnifies the essence of what Br David is referring to wrt …why it is we Humans have, always have had, always will have sufficient material ( and otherwise ) to enjoy our earthly existence.

Daskalos:

“I will tell you something Joshua Emanuel the Christ gave to his healer-disciples,

Daskalos quoting Joshua Emanuel the Christ:

“I have given you everything you need to feed your material body. I have given you a material body so you can live in it. I have instructed the Holy Archangels to serve you, to keep your body in good order and to sustain it for you. In every beat of your heart is my voice telling you that “I love you, you are my offspring, you are me”.

“I have given you a body, you are living in it now. Take care of it. Make it my Temple, sanctify it, those Holy Archangels are working in it, every moment, for you. Make your material body MY Temple, and your heart, MY Holy of Holies.”

( Use visualization and) Place a lighted lamp on the altar in your heart. Make it an un-extinguishable flame of love. I have given it to you to light ALL that is around you. ALL around you are in need of that light from your heart.

Thank You Sheila!
i posted this to-day knowing that this coming Sunday is Palm Sunday. My early years were all experienced in the Roman Catholic tradition and all the preparations around Palm Sunday was as busy and intoxicating as Easter Sunday itself! Especially when Eastern Sunday was a late in spring as the one coming up. Even the incense burn during benediction couldn't over the sent of all the flowers set around the church. And I was the alter boy who had to hold the incense burner! ( I...

Thank You Sheila!

i posted this to-day knowing that this coming Sunday is Palm Sunday. My early years were all experienced in the Roman Catholic tradition and all the preparations around Palm Sunday was as busy and intoxicating as Easter Sunday itself! Especially when Eastern Sunday was a late in spring as the one coming up. Even the incense burn during benediction couldn’t over the sent of all the flowers set around the church. And I was the alter boy who had to hold the incense burner! ( I have forgotten the actual name of it …but not how it had to be handed to the priest correctly …Or Else! 🙂 )

This is wonderful! In the video, it is not only what Br. David and Lynne say, but they speak from their heart and soul and transmit such a loving, beautiful energy! Thank-you very much for this! Life is so precious!
With love and a grateful heart, Sheila 💖